After the Senate spent a few marathon days on the passage of Democratic priority bills on firearms and union organizing last week, the Colorado legislature is looking for a potentially less contentious week ahead — though getting those same bills through the House still hangs over the session.
On Monday, the House pushed off planned debates on new price-gouging regulations in House Bill 1010, a crackdown on so-called junk fees in House Bill 1090 and a housing measure in House Bill 1169, which would make it easier to build residential projects on church properties. The delay was so members could pay their respects to former Rep. Rod Bockenfeld, a Watkins Republican who died earlier this month.
Those floor debates will be set for later this week. So will consideration of House Bill 1004, which would prohibit landlords from coordinating to set rent — including through third-party companies such as those that use algorithms to set prices.
The Senate will debate Senate Bill 77, a modification to the Colorado Open Records Act, later this week. That bill would extend the time government agencies have to respond to requests made by people other than those from mass media or newsgathering operations.
Here’s what else is scheduled at the legislature this week:
Wage theft enforcement
House Bill 1001, which would strengthen enforcement of wage theft, or when employers don’t pay workers what they earn, will be at the House Finance Committee on Monday afternoon. It was one of the first measures introduced this legislative session. It follows Gov. Jared Polis’ veto of a separate anti-wage theft measure last year.
Lawsuits, greenhouse gases
On Tuesday, the House Judiciary Committee will hear House Bill 1239, which would extend the time limit for people to file grievances under the Colorado Anti-Discrimination Act from 60 days to 1 year, along with other changes. It will also hear House Bill 1123, which would require members of homeowners associations to go through internal resolution and mediation processes before they can file lawsuits.
On Thursday afternoon, the House Energy and Environment Committee will hear House Bill 1119, which would require businesses that operate in Colorado and have total revenues of more than $1 billion to publicly disclose their greenhouse gas emissions from the prior year.
Wildlife, hunting measures
Also Thursday afternoon, the Senate Agriculture and Natural Resources Committee will hear Senate Bill 168, which would add a variety of new animals to the state’s anti-wildlife trafficking laws and make it a crime to violate them. It would tie state law to the animals listed by the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species.
The committee will also hear Senate Bill 53, which would classify wild bison as wildlife and limit hunting of them.
At the same time, the Senate Health and Human Services Committee will hear Senate Bill 85, which would require that dogs and cats used in health-related research be put up for adoption before resorting to euthanasia.
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